Saturday Shots: Happy Hour!

I haven't done one of my "Saturday Shots" posts (or any other blog posts for that matter) in a few weeks. Since it's the weekend, I figured a good subject matter would be bars. The following photographs are part of my old signage series. Cheers!

Simon's Fish (Chicago), photograph, 2005

Simon's is an old neighborhood tavern in Andersonville that's been around since the Great Depression. It's a former speakeasy with an interesting history. Cheap drinks, relaxed atmosphere, and a great jukebox.

Blatz Beer (Cedarburg, WI), photograph, 2004

Lincoln Square Liquors (Chicago), photograph, 2008

Painting in Progress: Watertanks, El Train Cityscape

Watertanks, El Train Cityscape, acrylic on wood panel (work in progress)

This is a work in progress painted on a 30x80 wood panel door. The composition is made up but I used photographs as reference. I first used gesso to prime the surface and then sketched the scene using graphite before starting to paint. There will be some minor compositional changes along the way as I build up the layers of color. This painting will be included in a solo show this fall at Urbanest in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood.

New Painting: Looking Through You

Looking Through You, acrylic on paper, 27x39, 2009

This new painting was done with acrylic on patterned paper. It was fun to paint while tacked on the wall in my studio -- something I don't do very often but have been doing more of lately. I like the effect of letting the pattern of the paper show through on the skin. It will be finished off with a black wooden frame.

Website Update: figurative studies gallery added

Nude study (sleeping chair), pastel and charcoal on paper, 18x24, 2005

I added a new section to the drawings galleries: figurative studies. Most of these drawings were done in the summer of 2005 during a class at Lill Street Art Center.

Click here to view the figurative studies gallery.

Saturday Shots: Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty, photograph, 2009

I figured this would be a good photo to post on the 4th of July. I hadn't been to the Statue of Liberty since about 1998. This past May, my wife and I took the first ferry out on a Saturday morning. Getting up before 7am on vacation was worth it - no crowds and we were in the first group to go up in the pedestal.